Small Arms Review from Iraq?
There's been an interesting document making the rounds on-line as of late. It claims to have the "unvarnished opinions" of the soldiers serving in Iraq regarding their small arms. Entitled "what worked, what sucked", this little gem is being bandied about in acrimonious discussions amongst small-arms devotees everywhere. Here's my take on it.
"1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use. "
I've heard about jamming problems with sand, but that's a common occurrence with any tight-tolerance machine. The standard 5.56x45mm service ammunition is also getting panned due to its lack of "stopping power." Then again, the M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 was criticised during WWII for this same short-coming, as was the L1A1 SLR (British FAL) during the Falklands conflict. Killing someone in one shot depends on getting hits in the right places. One-shot stop power is largely mythical outside of anti-tank rockets. I also hear that the new Mk 262 Mod 0 and Mod 1 ammunition for 5.56mm weapons works quite well. I don't know about the opium bit.
"2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of s***. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly.(That's fun in the middle of a firefight!)"
No such weapon. There is an M249 SAW, which is a 5.56mm belt-fed light machine gun, which is a derivative of the FN-Minimi. It's usually considered very reliable. Then again, I'm not in the theatre, so I can't say. However, this is sounding rather phony.
"3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight."
I'd heard quite the opposite- the military procured cheap magazines with "crinkle" finish on the inside and as a result the Berettas refused to work in sandy environs. Not the pistol's fault, but the weapon has garnered a bad reputation as a result. From what I hear the Beretta is nearly universally reviled, as is the 9mm cartridge.
"4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect."
The main shotgun in US inventory is the M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun, which is a Benelli M4 Super 90. I've heard good things about it. There might be some individual Mossbergs in service, but it's not standard-issue kit.
There are some further reviews on heavier weapons, but there's another bit that caught my eye.
"Bad guy weapons:
1) Mostly AK47's The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like s*** Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again)"
Lots of things wrong with this one. AKs don't shoot .308, they shoot 7.62x39 M43. The .308 is 7.62x51mm. There's quite a difference. Furthermore, the PKM is a medium MG that shoots a completely different cartridge (7.62x54R). Anyone trying to load a full-power .308 into an AK won't get far, as it won't even fit in the magazine. I've heard that the M43 has wounding problems- it's little more effective than a .38 Special at range.
A lot of people think that this is a hoax. I'd generally agree- I'm no serving soldier, I'm just some guy with a cursory interest in small arms. If I can spot errors in this document, then there are some serious issues that need to be resolved.
Here's a gem from the comments at Defense Tech's entry:
"im going into field artillery and i dont particularly like the m-16a1 carbin or the regulare m-16. i want to know if i could buy a difrent gun or if i would be able to trade it in or what because iv had some problems with jamming in the gun range and i would rather have a better gun. Plus the .223 round isnt going to bring sombody down unless you hit them above the torso. so write back and tell me if you know anything.
futer marine,
andrew bozza"
"1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use. "
I've heard about jamming problems with sand, but that's a common occurrence with any tight-tolerance machine. The standard 5.56x45mm service ammunition is also getting panned due to its lack of "stopping power." Then again, the M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 was criticised during WWII for this same short-coming, as was the L1A1 SLR (British FAL) during the Falklands conflict. Killing someone in one shot depends on getting hits in the right places. One-shot stop power is largely mythical outside of anti-tank rockets. I also hear that the new Mk 262 Mod 0 and Mod 1 ammunition for 5.56mm weapons works quite well. I don't know about the opium bit.
"2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of s***. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly.(That's fun in the middle of a firefight!)"
No such weapon. There is an M249 SAW, which is a 5.56mm belt-fed light machine gun, which is a derivative of the FN-Minimi. It's usually considered very reliable. Then again, I'm not in the theatre, so I can't say. However, this is sounding rather phony.
"3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight."
I'd heard quite the opposite- the military procured cheap magazines with "crinkle" finish on the inside and as a result the Berettas refused to work in sandy environs. Not the pistol's fault, but the weapon has garnered a bad reputation as a result. From what I hear the Beretta is nearly universally reviled, as is the 9mm cartridge.
"4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect."
The main shotgun in US inventory is the M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun, which is a Benelli M4 Super 90. I've heard good things about it. There might be some individual Mossbergs in service, but it's not standard-issue kit.
There are some further reviews on heavier weapons, but there's another bit that caught my eye.
"Bad guy weapons:
1) Mostly AK47's The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like s*** Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again)"
Lots of things wrong with this one. AKs don't shoot .308, they shoot 7.62x39 M43. The .308 is 7.62x51mm. There's quite a difference. Furthermore, the PKM is a medium MG that shoots a completely different cartridge (7.62x54R). Anyone trying to load a full-power .308 into an AK won't get far, as it won't even fit in the magazine. I've heard that the M43 has wounding problems- it's little more effective than a .38 Special at range.
A lot of people think that this is a hoax. I'd generally agree- I'm no serving soldier, I'm just some guy with a cursory interest in small arms. If I can spot errors in this document, then there are some serious issues that need to be resolved.
Here's a gem from the comments at Defense Tech's entry:
"im going into field artillery and i dont particularly like the m-16a1 carbin or the regulare m-16. i want to know if i could buy a difrent gun or if i would be able to trade it in or what because iv had some problems with jamming in the gun range and i would rather have a better gun. Plus the .223 round isnt going to bring sombody down unless you hit them above the torso. so write back and tell me if you know anything.
futer marine,
andrew bozza"
posted by The Admiral at 8:31 PM
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